Rhapsody in Red: by Donn Taylor

Author: Donn Taylor

Preston (Press) Barclay has simple wants. He wants to go on teaching history, to be left alone to grieve the loss of his pianist wife and, somehow, to cope with the musical hallucinations that have plagued him since her death. Unfortunately, stumbling across the dead body of a colleague tends to complicate things.

The woman who was with him at the time of the discovery, Mara Thorn, is a headstrong Wiccan professor of comparative religions, brought in as part of the “Christian” university’s inclusiveness campaign. The chief of homicide, Press’s old enemy from their army days, immediately tries to prove Press and Mara guilty, and the evidence does seem to point that way. Jointly accused, Mara and Press team up to find the murderer before the police can build a case to convict them.

Can this ill-matched pair prevail against the police, the murderer, and— even worse—the college administration? And what might they learn about themselves along the way?

When Wiccan Mara Thorn, the university's instructor of comparative religion, seeks history professor Preston Barclay's help with a difficult situation, they end up discovering a colleague's body and being suspected of murder. Can this ill-matched pair prevail against the killer?

When Wiccan Mara Thorn, the university's instructor of comparative religion, seeks history professor Preston Barclay's help with a difficult situation, they end up discovering a colleague's body and being suspected of murder.